23 Life-Changing CS Lewis Quotes to Inspire Your Spiritual Journey
Clive Staples Lewis, or C.S. Lewis, is a renowned British writer and scholar of the 20th century. He is famous for his work on literature, theology, and philosophy, and is considered one of the most influential Christian writers and thinkers of his time.
Lewis’s writings on spirituality have inspired and guided countless people around the world, and continue to do so even today.
This article will explore some of the most profound and thought-provoking quotes by C.S. Lewis that will inspire and enrich your spiritual journey.
Additionally, we will recommend some of his must-read books for those who want to delve deeper into his writings. So, without further ado, let’s begin.
“23 Life-Changing CS Lewis Quotes to Inspire Your Spiritual Journey”
1. “Friendship is born at the moment when one person says to another, ‘What! You too? I thought I was the only one.'”
2. “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.”
3. “You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.”
4. “Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching.”
5. “The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles, but to irrigate deserts.”
6. “We are what we believe we are.”
7. “Courage, dear heart.”
8. “The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is.”
9. “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”
10. “No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good.”
11. “The ultimate choice for a man, in as much as he is given to influence the course of his own life, lies between two great alternatives: Will I seek to adjust my reality to the truth, or will I seek to adjust the truth to my own reality?”
12. “The task of the modern theologian is not to explain everything, but to uncover the stony places where God’s feet have touched and to remove the obstacles which prevent the heart from following after.”
13. “Every time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different than it was before. And taking your life as a whole, with all your innumerable choices, all your life long you are slowly turning this central thing into a heavenly creature or a hellish creature: either into a creature that is in harmony with God, and with other creatures, and with itself, or else into one that is in a state of war and hatred with God, and with its fellow-creatures, and with itself.”
14. “The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us.”
15. “There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.”
16. “Miracles are a retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to see.”
17. “Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.”
18. “To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.”
19. “To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.”
20. “The safest road to hell is the gradual one – the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.”
21. “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.”
22. “I pray because I can’t help myself. I pray because I’m helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping. It doesn’t change God. It changes me.”
23. “True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.”
Recommended CS Lewis Books for Further Reading
If you have been inspired by the 23 life-changing quotes of CS Lewis listed in the previous section, you may want to explore his writings further. Luckily, there are many books by Lewis that you can read to deepen your understanding of spirituality, faith, and morality.
Here are three recommended books by CS Lewis for further reading:
This book is a classic introduction to Christianity and a defense of the faith. Lewis presents his ideas in a clear and accessible style, making complex theological concepts understandable to a general audience. The book is divided into four sections: “Right and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning of the Universe,” “What Christians Believe,” “Christian Behaviour,” and “Beyond Personality: Or First Steps in the Doctrine of the Trinity.”
The Screwtape Letters is a satirical novel in which Lewis imagines a series of letters written by a senior demon named Screwtape to his nephew Wormwood, who is a junior tempter. Through these letters, Screwtape teaches Wormwood how to seduce and corrupt his “patient,” a human being who is trying to live a Christian life. The book is a humorous yet profound exploration of the nature of evil, temptation, and redemption.
This series of seven children’s books is set in the imaginary world of Narnia, a place of magic, talking animals, and epic adventures. Although the books are written for a young audience, they are beloved by readers of all ages for their rich symbolism, Christian themes, and engaging storytelling. The Chronicles of Narnia can be read as an allegory of Christian salvation, with the figure of Aslan the Lion representing Jesus Christ.
Reading these books by CS Lewis can deepen your understanding of spirituality and faith, and inspire you to live a more meaningful and ethical life.
